A/N I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING! I ONLY OWN THIS PLOT! Yay, so I found some time for one more update before I leave on my trip. I just started to write, thinking I'd get a few words in and then when I stopped I realized I have over 4,000 words. I was so excited I just had to post it. :D Thanks to my beta Elena Rain! Also just a little side note, the story rating has gone up just for safety reason, I hope I didn't lose readers by doing that but I want to be safe. Now on with the story:

The next day Gabriella arrived at school and went over to Troy and wrapped her arms around him hugging him tightly.

"Hey, Beautiful. Everything go ok last night?"

"Troy, why are women put on this earth?" she asked mumbled in his chest.

He chuckled. "UH….well, I don't know, I'm sure every woman has their own purpose and reason for being here, I just have no idea what that is."

"Do you believe it's to be slaves to all men?"

"What? No, of course not. Why would you ask me that?"

Suddenly it hit Troy and he sighed. He hugged her tighter. "Did he really say that to you? He told you, the only reason you were here is to be his slave?"

Gabriella nodded. "I didn't know men still thought like that."

"Baby, you can't let him get to you. You know that it isn't true."

"I know it isn't true, but it just scared me. He really believes that women are slaves to men, Troy, the look in his eyes when he said that to me….it really scared me."

"Hey, Brie, look at me."

Gabriella looked up at him. "Remember, this is all pretend. You aren't really married to him. Plus in real life, when you get married your husband will treat you will respect."

"Only if it's you."

"Well who else would it be?"

"Um…I don't know. Zac Efron?"

"You're asking to be tickled aren't you?" he teased.

She squealed and went to run but he wrapped his arms tighter around her.

"Oh no," he laughed. "You've been naughty, you have to be punished."

"Spoken like a true man." Peter said as he walked over. "So, what did my wife do to you? I'll punish her at home."

Gabriella whimpered.

"Ok, one, she s only your wife between the hours of 1 and 2 other than that she is my girlfriend and you are to treat her right. 2, you lay a finger on my girlfriend and I'll beat you so hard your bones will break in ways you never thought possible."

"Yeah, go ahead, you'll get expelled. Then I'll have Gabriella all to myself."

Gabriella whimpered and moved to hide behind Troy. Peter laughed. "She is such a baby! I can't believe you're actually dating her."

Troy growled. "Gabriella is a lot stronger than you give her credit for. Plus if you were a human being instead of a perverted pig, maybe she'd trust you enough to show you her true self."

"Oh I've seen her true self. I did get her before you. I've had my fun, so you can have the leftovers. After all my mom always taught me to share my used toys."

Gabriella whimpered. "I'm not a toy! I'm a human being and I have feelings!"

"Yeah, none that actually matter to me."

Troy growled. "You're the worst husband, I've ever met."

Peter shrugged. "I don't care. I just want action. My wife will give it to me, willingly or unwillingly."

With that he passed Troy, as he passed Gabriella he squeezed her butt. Gabriella screamed. Troy spun around and grabbed his wrist.

"YOU WILL NOT TOUCH HER AGAIN!"

"You can't control that. She's my wife now. See you at home." Peter smirked.

He walked away and Gabriella just broke out in tears. "I hate him! I really hate him! Troy, please help me. Keep me safe!"

Troy turned to Gabriella and sighed. "I know, Angel, I hate him too. Let's try and talk to Mrs. Thompson before class."

Gabriella shook her head. "She won't do anything about it! We've tried."

"Yeah, we've tried too. You're marriage isn't going to work. She needs to change it."

"But she won't!"

"It's worth it to at least try right?"

Gabriella shook her head. "It won't do any good."

Troy sighed. He pulled Gabriella into him and lifted her into his arms. She was so scared and so upset she didn't even want to try asking again because she knew it would be useless. She really believed there was no way out of this.

She cried into his shoulder and clung into him for dear life. Troy rubbed her back and rocked her gently.

She calmed down and they made their way to class. Most of the morning was un-eventful. Then it was time for home economics.

They both went into the room and sat down. Everything was going fine….until the teacher told everyone to meet with their partners and work on their assignments. Peter went over to Gabriella.

"Hey, Angel." He greeted.

He kissed her cheeks and she instantly pulled away and wiped it off.

"Don't touch me, and don't call me Angel."

"Awww, don't be like that, Baby." He put his hand on her thigh.

"I said stop!" she said pushing him away.

"Oh you know you love it."

"NO I don't!"

"Mr. Johnson, less touching, more talking." Mrs. Thompson said.

Peter nodded. "SO, I'm the biggest and best lawyer in the world! Everyone and anyone wants to defend them."

"Wonderful another lawyer." Gabriella muttered thinking back to her mother.

"You are my slave, when I get home dinner is to be waiting on the table nice and hot. Nothing healthy either. I mean fat and greasy. You have to eat strictly salads with no dressings and no toppings. I don't want a fat ugly wife. You get to eat when all the chores are finished."

"What if I want to work?"

"You can't you're too busy. OH but the number one most important rule of this marries, never ever, deny me sex. I get sex when I ask for it. No questions or excuses. Understand."

"Peter, this isn't a real marriage. Sex isn't important."

"Sex is always important. Now do you understand these rules?"

"Yeah, but I don't like them. I will not follow them."

"Oh yeah? Go ahead and see what happens."

"I'm…I'm not scared of you. You won't hurt me in room full of people."

"You're right, but remember before we were talking about punishment? You don't follow the rules and there will be punishment. Even if your little daddy is home. I can make it so he never knows."

Gabriella gulped and nodded.

The bell finally rang and Gabriella was the first to bolt out of the classroom and run as fast as she could to her and Troy's secret spot.

When she reached the top she ledge over the edge panting as if she was going to throw up. She couldn't take this anymore. She couldn't handle being married and it had only been 24 hours. She still had two weeks get through. She had no idea how she was going to do that.

"Hey…"

She spun around and saw Troy.

"Troy…."

"I knew you'd be up here. Are you ok?"

"Troy I….I can't….I can't do this anymore." She choked out.

"Do what?"

"Marriage, I can't!"

She sunk down to her knees and started to once again, cry her eyes out. Troy was by her in side in an instant holding her and comforting her.

"I can't….I can't…." Gabriella gasped out.

She was crying so hard it was making her breathless.

"Shhh, shhh, shhh," Troy soothed. "Can't what, Angel? Can't what?"

"Stay…with….Peter. I can't!"

"OK, ok, shhh, shhh, calm down. Calm down. He's not going to hurt you."

"Troy….2 more weeks….I can't do this!"

"We're going to fix this. I promise we're going to fix this together."

"It' useless to ask Mrs. Thompson. She's already said no. She won't change her mind."

"If we tell her about the way he's treating you maybe she will. Look, we tried; it's all we can do. You tried being married to him and it's not working out. So all we can do it try again and see if we can get your partners switched."

"What if she says no?"

Troy sighed. "Then we will come up with a plan B."

Gabriella sighed. She nodded and buried her face in his chest.

"Brie, you're going to have to tell her the truth. If I do all the talking I'll just sound like a jealous ex. She needs to hear it from you."

Gabriella nodded. "I know. I'll tell her."

"Ok, let's go.'

They both stood up and went back to the classroom.

"Mrs. Thompson, do you have a minute?" Troy asked.

"I've got to get ready for my next class…."

"It won't take long."

"All right, fine."

Gabriella and Troy went over to the desk.

"I want to switch my partners. Please, Peter is terrible to me. He treats me like a slave and not his wife, he's touching me in places I don't want to me touched and he kisses me when I don't want him to kiss me. Please, I tried being married to him. I really did and it's just not working out." Gabriella said.

"It's been 24 hours."

"I know but, I can't take anymore. Please?"

"I don't believe you're actually trying at all. He is your husband, touching and kissing you in normal. Him treating you like a slave is a problem lots of people have. Talk to him about it and work it out. That's the point of this project."

"Hang on, are you saying its ok for him to touch my girlfriend is places that make her uncomfortable, and treat her like a she's nothing more than a slave?" Troy asked.

"No, but this is a real marriage life problem, it'd be a wonderful thing to talk about at the end of how they overcame it together. "

"But, Mrs. Thompson…" Gabriella started but was cut off.

"You have two choices, one swear off all men for life, and live the rest of your life alone in your bedroom, grow up all alone with noting but your 50 cats to be your friend, or you can toughen up and stop acting like such a baby, and do the project with Peter."

"I'll do the project just not with, Peter. Please."

"No, I'm not switching now. Either work it out, or you're going to get an F."

Gabriella sighed and left the room. Troy growled at the teacher. "My mother is a lawyer, so you better pray nothing bad happens to Gabriella in these two weeks. Otherwise I'll sue you for everything you've got."

With that he left the room. He looked around for Gabriella but she was gone. He sighed. How was he going to help her through this?

He looked all over, even their secret spot, and he couldn't find Gabriella anywhere. He sighed and grabbed his phone. He tried calling her but she didn't answer. So he sent her a text message. He was happy when she responded.

In the bathroom washing my face, meet you in class?

I'll wait for you outside the bathroom. I don't want you to be alone. That's spoken from Mr. Overprotective ;)

He started to head back to the bathroom. When she sent a response.

Thank you, Troy. I love you so much.

I love you too.

Troy got to the bathroom and waited outside the door for Gabriella to come out. She was taking longer than he expected and was starting to worry. Suddenly there was a loud scream from inside the bathroom, Gabriella's scream.

Troy bolted into the room faster than lighting. He lost his mind when he saw Peter standing in the doorway of one of the stalls; he knew who was in the stall too.

"You sick perverted monster, get out there right now!"

He ran over and grabbed Peter by the back of his shirt and threw him against the wall. He closed the stall door knowing Gabriella would lock herself in there until it was safe.

"You stay away from her! How dare you invade her privacy like that! You're a sick, twisted, pervert, and if I ever see you around Gabriella when she's not fully clothed I'll strangle you with my bare hands!"

"What if she wants it?"

Troy growled. "Don't test me, Johnson. You've never seen Bad Boy Bolton before, but I will do whatever I have to, to protect the ones I love."

Peter laughed. "You don't scare me. Plus, this wouldn't be the first time I've seen Gabriella's….well…..private area."

Troy growled and slammed him up against the wall. "SHUT UP YOU SICK, FREAK, AND STAY AWAY FROM MY GIRLFRIEND!"

He punched Peter in the face over and over, until Peter's lip and nose were bleeding.

Then he stopped and let him drop to the floor. "IF I EVER CATCH YOU NEAR MY GIRLFRINED WHEN SHE IS HALF DRESSED I SWEAR YOU WON'T LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO TELL ABOUT IT!"

"MR. BOLTON!"

Troy turned to see Mrs. Thompson standing there. "What on earth is going on in here?"

"This sick freak was verbally abusing Gabriella while she was going to the bathroom!"

"Ms. Montez is in here?"

"In here." A soft, scared, voice said from inside the stall.

She went over to the stall door and knocked. "Ms. Montez, you need to come out right now."

"No, leave me alone, please leave me alone." She cried.

"Let me try, it. She doesn't trust you; she won't come out for you."

"No, neither of you boys are allowed near Ms. Montez."

"Why not? I didn't do anything to her." Troy argued.

"You have no idea how bad this looks. Mr. Bolton, I just heard you threaten another student and he's bleeding on the floor. Plus there is a scared woman hiding in the bathroom stall. You could be suspended for a long time."

Troy crossed his arms over his chest. "Fine, be my guest then. But you'll never get her out."

He knew Gabriella would never listen to her and it wouldn't be long before she agreed to let him help.

"I'll get her out, Mr. Bolton. I'm a girl, she will trust me more than a bunch of boys. Once I do you're going to be in so much trouble."

Troy shook his head. "I've got nothing to say to you. I've done nothing wrong and I will not say or even feel sorry for what I just did. I will always protect, Gabriella."

"The three of you will have to go talk with the Principal. Once I get Ms. Montez from the stall we're leaving."

She knocked again. "Ms. Montez you need to come out of the bathroom, right now."

"NO! GO AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE!" she screamed.

Troy could hear it in her voice that she was crying and it broke his heart not being able to help her.

"You need to come out and tell me what happen. If you come out I promise you can walk with Troy to Principal's Office."

"I'm not coming out, go away! Just please leave me alone."

"If you come out of the bathroom I'll let you switch partners."

"I don't believe you! I want Troy!"

Mrs. Thompson sighed. She looked to Troy, "Get her out of the bathroom, but once she is out you are not to touch her."

Troy shook his head. He went over to the stall door and knocked. "Brie, its ok, now, Sweetie, you can come out. I'm right here. Nobody is going to hurt you."

All he heard was crying.

"Baby, can you unlock the door?"

"No!" she cried.

"Are you dressed?" Mrs. Thompson asked.

"YES!' she screeched out.

"Baby, Baby, shhh, shhh, its ok. Just ignore her, ignore her. Will you please let me in?" Troy said.

"No! Not until everyone else goes away!"

Troy looked to the others. Peter had finally gotten off the floor and he had stopped bleeding.

"I'm not going anywhere, nether is Peter, now either you unlock the door and come out or I'm crawling under the door and unlocking it myself." Mrs. Thompson sighed.

Gabriella started to cry harder. She started shaking in fear. They heard the sound of the door unlocking. Troy only opened it enough so he could peek his head in. Gabriella was sitting on the toilet lid with her knees pulled up to her chest with her arms wrapped around her legs and her chin resting on her knees. Tears streamed down her cheeks, like never ending waterfalls, as she shook, in fear,

"Plea-please…don-don't… le-let… them hur-hurt… me." She stuttered through tears and gasps for air.

Troy moved into the stall and lifted her into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and cling to his shirt, and wrapped her legs around his waist, as she buried her face into the crook of his neck. He kissed her cheek. "Shhh, you're all right, you're safe now. I've got you."

He walked out of the stall.

"Mr. Bolton, what did I say about touching her?"

Troy laughed. "If I put her down, she'll run right back into the stall."

"I don't believe that, put her down."

Troy unwrapped his arms from around her but she didn't move. She grip was so tight she could hold herself up. He rewrapped his arms around her and kissed her head

"Now, what were you saying about putting her down?"

Mrs. Thompson sighed. "Whatever, let's go."

Everyone followed her through the hall to the Office. They all sat down in front of the Principal. Gabriella, was on Troy's lap.

"Now, all of you will get a chance to tell your side of the story. Once I heard both sides I'll decide a punishment for you. Mr. Johnson, you go first."

"Well, I was on my way to class when I heard Gabriella screaming. It was coming from the girl's bathroom so I ran into see if she was ok. When I got there Troy had Gabriella pinned to wall, he was trying to rape her. So I pulled him away but then he punched me and punched me. If Mrs. Thompson hadn't come in when she had, I might be dead right now. Troy Bolton is so violent. You know he has a history of abuse towards woman." Peter said.

"All right, Mr. Bolton, your turn."

"Gabriella was in the bathroom, I was waiting outside the bathroom door for her. Peter hadn't been treating Gabriella right and I didn't want her to walk to class alone. So I waited outside the bathroom until she came out. She never did come out. I heard her scream so I went inside; when I got there Peter was standing there in front of Gabriella in the stall, watching as she did her business, taunting her verbally. So I pulled him away and his rude sexual comments continued so yes, I did hit him. I'll admit I did it him. But I was defending my girlfriend. I will always protect Gabriella."

"All right, Ms. Montez, your turn, I've got two different men with two different stories. So you're going to be the one who helps me decides who is going to be punished or not. Don't not be scared, but just choose what you say carefully because one wrong thing and Troy could end up getting in trouble but I want the complete and honest truth from you."

"No pressure." Troy muttered.

Gabriella was scared enough and now she had to worry about saying something wrong and getting him in trouble for it. She didn't say anything. She was still shaking and softly crying.

"Brie, come on, Princess, just tell the truth, don't worry about getting me in trouble. We've got nothing to hide, we did nothing wrong."

Gabriella looked up at Troy. He smiled softly at her and kissed her gently on the nose. "Go on, it's ok."

She looked to the Principal. "I had a rough class and so I went to wash my face in the bathroom so it didn't look like I was crying. Then I went into one of the stalls. I thought I had locked the door, but I must not of because after I sat down I looked up and Peter was standing there."

Troy rubbed her back and pressed soft kisses to her hair as a reminder that he was there. He knew she needed his strength and he was more than happy to give it to her.

"After that he just said some rude and offensive things to me."

"What about?"

Gabriella looked down at her hands.

"Ok, what kinds of things did he say to you?"

Gabriella kept her head down. She didn't answer.

"Ms. Montez, I need an answer from you."

Again Gabriella ignored him.

"Ms. Montez answer me or I'll be left to assume you and Mr. Bolton planned this whole thing and that he is guilty in all this."

Troy growled. He was using Gabriella's fear of him getting into trouble, to force an answer from her.

"He was talking about my private part." She whispered softly, turning three shades redder.

"What did he say about it?"

Again Gabriella was quiet.

"Ms. Montez this is your last warning, either you speak or both you and Troy will be punished."

"He said I was ugly and that I shouldn't be allowed to look that ugly and live on this planet! Then he said he'd have sex with me just because nobody else would! IS THAT BETTER? IS THAT WHAT YOU WANTED TO HEAR?" She screamed as she started to cry harder and shake more violently.

"Ms. Montez, did he touch your private parts?"

Gabriella shook her head too upset to speak.

The Principal nodded. "All right, Peter, this is your warning, if this happens again you will be suspended."

Peter nodded.

"You may go to class."

Peter got up and left the room. "As for your Mr. Bolton, I will be calling your mother to come and pick you up. You are suspended for the rest of the day, no matter the reason there is no need for fighting in this school."

Troy just nodded. He honestly didn't care. He did what he believed was right, his father had always taught him to stand up for what he believed in and he believed that he did the right thing so he'd stand by that no matter who told him it was wrong.

Gabriella on the other hand started to cry harder. "It's not his fault. It's not his fault!" she cried.

"Regardless of why, he should not of hit him."

Gabriella cried. "I'm so sorry, Troy. I'm so sorry!"

"Shhh, it's not your fault. Shhh." Troy soothed.

She reburied her face into his neck and clung tightly to him. Troy rubbed her back and tried to comfort her. She was still shaking and he was starting to worry that she'd never stop.

After a little while Lucille walked in. Gabriella was sitting crying and blaming herself. Lucille went over to the Principal. "I'll be taking my son and his girlfriend home now." She turned back around and went over to Troy. "Let's go."

Lucille started to walk out of the room. Troy was kind of shocked to see his mother act like that. Was she mad?

They all got into the car. They drove for a while before Lucille stopped at a red light. Then she turned to face the kids.

"I'm not angry. I'm sorry I acted like that but I didn't. I just didn't want to go in there and say something I'd regret later. I'm very proud of you Troy. I know your father would be too. I'm sorry you got in trouble but you did do the right thing. You protect Gabriella, that's what matters. Gabriella, I'm sorry if I scared you before. It's not your fault that Troy got in trouble. No one blames you."

Gabriella nodded and finally looked up from Troy's neck. "Thank you for taking me with you, I didn't want to be at school without Troy."

"I know and I understand that."

"Are we going to your house?"

Lucille nodded. "You'll stay there until your dad comes home from work, then you two will head home."

"I have to work on my project with him." Gabriella sighed.

"Ah, I've got that covered."

"How?" Troy asked.

Lucille turned back around and continued to drive as the light turned green. "Well you dad has to work late tonight, so he asked me to keep you and have Peter come here to work on your project. That way you have me and Troy to keep you safe from him. Plus just because you're married doesn't mean you can't have friends. Also, there is no problem with having a study group now is there?"

Gabriella smiled for the first time since the day started.

"Hey," Troy said with a smile. "There is my favorite smile."

He lightly tickled her ribs and she giggled squirming on his lap. She pushed his hands away and he stopped pressing a small kiss to her head.

"Thank you for sticking up for me today, Troy."

"I'll always stick up for you, Angel."

They shared a gentle kiss on the lips. Gabriella rested her head on Troy's shoulder. He stroked her hair and just held her. The day had been awful; Troy just hoped her evening was better. He, His mom, even Taylor was going to be there, how horrible could it be? What could go wrong?

A/N well what do you think? Will the evening go smoothly and will Peter cause trouble? Leave me your thoughts in a review.

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